Rotary brushes and components for use in rotary brushes



Sept. 27, 1966 R. GODFREY ROTARY BRUSHES AND COMPONENTS FOR USE INROTARY BRUSHES Filed July 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGI P 27, 1966 L.R. GODFREY 3,274,634

ROTARY BRUSHES AND COMPONENTS FOR USE IN ROTARY BRUSHES Filed July 29,1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,274,634 ROTARY BRUSHES ANDCOMPONENTS FOR USE IN ROTARY BRUSHES Leonard Robert Godfrey, Chepstow,England, assignor to Dendix Brushes Limited, Chepstow, England, aBritish company Filed July 29, 1965, Ser. No. 475,633 8 Claims. (Cl.15-198) This invention relates to rotary brushes, for example rotarybrushes for sweepers designed for sweeping roads, aircraft runways andthe like, and to components for use in rotary brushes.

According to the invention, there is provided a component for a rotarybrush, comprising a tuft-holding ring of zig-zag form, tuft holdersdisposed at the peaks of the zigzag and thereby arranged in two annualrows, the tuft holders all being substantially equidistant from the axisof the tuft-holding ring, and the tufts of brush filaments held by thetuft holders and extending outwardly of the tuft-holding ring.

According to the invention, there is also provided a rotary brushcomprising a plurality of components, constructed as defined above,disposed in a row and a carrier member which passes through thetuft-holding rings and is coupled to them so as to transmit rotarymotion to them.

For a better understanding of the invent-ion and to show how it may becarried into effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly in section, of part of a rotary brush,

FIGURE 2 is an end view, partly in section, of part of what is shown inFIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the upper half of the brushof a sweeper.

The brush illustrated has an overall diameter of about 3 feet and it isdesigned for sweeping snow from roads and aircraft runways, but it is tobe understood that the brush can be used for other purposes and thatlarger and smaller brushes intended for the same purpose and for otherpurposes can be made in accordance with the invention.

The brush illustrated has a large number of tuft-holding rings ofzig-zag form disposed in a row on a tubular carrier member 1 whichpasses through all the rings and is coaxial with them. Only threetuft-holding rings are shown in FIGURE 1 and they are referenced 2, 3and 4 and in FIGURE 3 only the rings 3 and 4 are shown. The ring 3 isshown in FIGURE 2 and is described in detail below.

The ring 3 consists of two annual members 5 and 6 of sheet metal, eachof which has been so bent in a press as to be of zig-zag form and tohave a groove therein at each peak of the zig-zag, the grooves extendingradially from the inside of the annular member to the outside and beingevenly spaced about the periphery of the annual member. The grooves inthe two annular members are equal in number and they face one anotherand co-operate to form rigid tuft holders 7 which are at the peaks ofthe zig-zag of the ring 3. The tuft holders 7 are substantially in theform of thin-walled hollow cylinders of circular crosssection havingflared outermost ends 8. The tuft holders are all substantiallyequidistant from the axis of the ring 3 and they are in two annual rows9 and 10 such that, progressing around the periphery of the ring 3,there is first a tuft holder of the row 9, then one of the row 10, thenone of the row 9 and so on. The two rows 9 and 10 are staggered in thedirection of the axis of the brush, that is to say the axes of the tuftholders in the rows 9 and 10 lie in two different planes which areperpendicular to the axis of the brush. Between the tuft holders, themembers 5 and 6 touch and are spot-welded together.

3,274,634 Patented Sept. 27, 1966 In each tuft holder 7 there is fitteda tubular support 11 of resilient material, for example rubber orP.V.C., in which there is inserted a tuft 12 of brush filaments whichextends radially outwardly of the tuft-holding ring, this being shownonly in the ring 2 in FIGURE 1. The tuft 12 is made by forming a bundleof brush filaments, which are preferably steel wires although othersuitable brush filaments could be used, and folding it in half to formtwo limbs 13 and 14 and a tuft root 15 which consists of the centre ofthe bundle, there being a ring 16 of plastics material, for exampleP.V.C., surrounding the two limbs of the tuft at a distance from theroot of the tuft equal to about one third of the length of the tuft.There is also a wire band (not shown) encircling the root of the tuft.The tuft root is enclosed by the tubular support 11 and the tuft holder7 grips the support 11 adjacent to and radially outwardly of the tuftroot. A split pin 17 extends parallel to the axis of the brush andpasses through the walls of the tuft holder 7 and the tubular support 11and between the two limbs 13 and 14 of the tuft near the root of thetuft. This provides a pivot connection between the tuft root and thetuft holder 7 whereby, in use of the brush, when the tuft is bent in aplane which is perpendicular to the axis of the brush, the tuft root isable to rock for short distances around the pivot and against theresistance provided by the tubular support.

From those parts of the annual members 5 and 6, of each of thetuft-holding rings 3 and 4, which form the tuft holders there are benttabs 18 and tabs 19 which extend beyond the tuft holders in oppositedirections parallel to the axis of the tuft-holding ring. The tabs 18 ofthe ring 3 and the tabs 19 of the ring 4 abut one another at their tipsand this spaces the two rings 3 and 4 a predetermined distance apart.There are no tabs 19 on the ring 2, which is at one end of the row ofrings, and no tabs 18 on the ring which is at the other end of the row.In other respects all the rings, the tufts and the means for holding thetufts are the same. In order to ensure that the tabs of two adjacentrings do abut one another despite possible differences in the diametersof the rings due to manufacturing tolerances, each tab lies in a planewhich is inclined at an acute angle to a plane which contains the axisof the brush and which also intersects the tab. This angle is shown inFIGURE 2 and is marked A.

There are recesses 20 on the inner side of the rings 2 to 4, and theother rings on the carrier member 1, and keys 20A engage in theserecesses. There are five keys 20A in all. They extend along the wholelength of the carrier member 1 and they are spaced equally around it andwelded to it. Each key projects radially outward-1y into one recess 20in each of the rings 2 to 4. Thus the keys serve to transmit rotationalmotion from the carrier member 1 to the tut-holding rings.

FIGURE 3 shows plates 21 welded to opposite ends of the carriermember 1. To these plates there are bolted further plates 22 which arein turn bolted to plates 23. In practice each tuft-holding ring which isat one end of the row of such rings will abut one of the plates 22 butthis is not shown on the drawing. The plates 23 are secured to drums 24which turn in bearings in nonrotatalble brush carrier arms 25 of thesweeper, one of the drums 24 having a driving sprocket 26 secured to itwhereby the rotor can be driven by a chain. When the bolts joining theplates 22 and 23- together are removed, the carrier member 1, thetuft-holding rings and the plates 21 and 22 can be removed as a unitfrom the sweeper and when the bolts joining one of the plates 22 to oneof the plates 21 are removed the tuft-holding rings can be slid off thecarrier member 1, to be replaced by new tuft-holding rings, with newtufts, if desired. When the tufts are worn, instead of replacing thetuft-holding rings by new rings carrying new tufts, the worn tufts canbe removed and replaced by new tufts.

If desired, the two limbs 13 and 14 of each tuft could be twistedtogether after folding the bundle of filaments in half.

I claim:

1. A component for a rotary brush comprising a tu-ftholding ring ofzig-zag form consisting of first and second annular parts of sheetmaterial each of zig-zag form with a groove therein at each peak of thezig-zag with the grooves of the first part facing the grooves of thesecond part and co-operating therewith to form at the peaks of thezig-zag of the tuft-holding ring a plurality of tuft holders arranged intwo annular rows and all substantially equidistant from the axis of thetuft-holding ring, tabs integral with and projecting from and beyond thetuft holders, some in one direction parallel to the axis of thetuft-holding ring and some in the opposite direction, and tufts of brushfilaments held by the tuft holders and extending outwardly of thetuft-holding ring.

2. A component according to claim 1, wherein said first and secondannular parts of sheet material touch one another between the groovesand are there fixed together.

3. A component according to claim 1, wherein each tab lies in a planewhich is inclined at an acute angle to a plane which contains the axisof the tuft-holding ring and which also intersects the tab.

4. A component according to claim 1, wherein the tuft holders aresubstantially in the form of thin-walled hollow cylinders the ends ofwhich that are further from the axis of the tuft-holding ring beingflared.

5. A component according to claim 1, and further comprising in each tuftholder a tubular support of resilient material which encloses the rootof the tuft and is gripped by the tuft holder adjacent to and outwardlyof the root of the tuft.

6. A component according to claim 5, and further comprising pivotalconnections between the tuft holders and the tuft roots, the pivotsbeing substantially parallel to the axis of the tuft-holding ringwhereby when a tuft is bent in use in a plane perpendicular to said axisthe tuft root is able to rock for short distances around its pivot andagainst the resistance provided by its tubular support.

7. A rotary brush comprising a plurality of components according toclaim 1 disposed in a row and a carrier member which passes through thetuft-holding rings and is coupled to them so as to transmit rotarymotion to them, the tabs on the one tuft-holding ring engaging the tabson another tuft-holding ring whereby the rings are spaced apart.

8. A component 'for a rotary brush, comprising a tuftholding ring ofzig-zag form, rigid tuft holders disposed at the peaks of the zig-zagand thereby arranged in two annular rows, the tuft holders all beingsubstantially equidistant from the axis of the tuft-holding ring, tuftsof brush filaments held by the tuft holders and extending outwardly ofthe tuft-holding ring, in each tuft holder a tubular support ofresilient material which encloses the root of the tuft and is gripped bythe tuft holder adjacent to and outwardly of the root of the tuft, andpivotal connections between the tuft holders and the tuft roots, thepivots being substantially parallel to the axis of the tuftholding ringwhereby when a tuft is bent in use in a plane perpendicular to said axisthe tuft root is able to rock for short distances around its pivot andagainst the resistance provided by its tubular support.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 55,176 5/1866Stuart 15200 X 597,521 1/1898 Frossar-d 15-481 1,475,074 11/ 1923McLaughlin 15-179 2,349,644 5/ 1944 Wesemeyer. 2,616,111 11/1952 Vose etal. 15-179 X 2,963,730 12/1960 Nelson 15182 3,038,189 6/1962 Harr 15-1813,142,854 8/1964 Nielsen l5198 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,083,226 6/ 1960Germany.

814,113 5/ 1959 Great Britain.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTI-I, Primary Examiner.

P. FELDMAN, Assistant Examiner.

8. A COMPONENT FOR A ROTARY BRUSH, COMPRISING A TUFTHOLDING RING OFZIG-ZAG FORM, RIGID TUFT HOLDERS DISPOSED AT THE PEAK OF THE ZIG-ZAG ANDTHEREBY ARRANGED IN TWO ANNULAR ROWS, THE TUFT HOLDERS ALL BEINGSUBSTANTIALLY EQUIDISTANT FROM FROM THE AXIS OF THE TUFT-HOLDING RING,TUFTS OF BRUSH FILAMENTS HELD BY THE TUFT HOLDERS AND EXTENDINGOUTWARDLY OF THE TUFT-HOLDING RING, IN EACH TUFT HOLDER A TUBULARSUPPORT OF RESILIENT MATERIAL WHICH ENCLOSES THE ROOT OF THE TUFT AND ISGRIPPED BY THE TUFT HOLDER ADJACENT TO AND OUTWARDLY OF THE ROOT OF THETUFT, AND PIGOTAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE TUFT HOLDERS AND THE TUFTROOTS, THE PIVOTS BEING SUBTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF THETUFTHOLDING RING WHEREBY WHEN A TUFT IS BENT IN USE IN A PLANEPERPENDICULAR TO SAID AXIS THE TUFT ROOT IS ABLE TO ROCK FOR SHORTDISTANCES AROUND ITS PIVOT AND AGAINST THE RESISTANCE PROVIDED BY ITSTUBULAR SUPPORT.